Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, September 20 and to VOD next Tuesday, September 24: THE MUSLIMS ARE COMING!
Negin Farsad and Dean Obeldallah’s Muslim-American comedy tour against Islamophobia made its debut at the Austin Film Festival last year, where it picked up the audience award. Other stops included deadCENTER, Chicago Palestine, and several other festivals. Its limited theatrical premiere is followed with a release by FilmBuff on iTunes, Amazon, and cable VOD.
Concerned with the rise of fear-mongering and prejudice against Muslims in America in the decade after 9/11, a pair of stand-up comics round up fellow Muslim-Americans, plus a Jewish friend, to embark on a roadtrip through the South and middle America. Along the way, they book free comedy showcases in an effort to combat myths and misperceptions about what the mainstream media paints as the radical Islamification of the nation, while also engaging in schticky public teach-ins like “Hug A Muslim,” “Name That Religion,” and “Ask A Muslim.” These bits, like their unexpectedly ribald comedy routines, are mostly mildly diverting rather than uproariously funny, but they do get the simple but unfortunately necessary message across that an entire religion shouldn’t be demonized due to the actions of extremists. Celebrity commentators, from Jon Stewart and David Cross to Rachel Maddow and Soledad O’Brien, echo this overall sentiment in a fairly conventional doc with a surfeit of really annoying music, though it should be said that the protagonists are likeable enough to keep the viewer engaged.
what (not) to doc 